If rock & roll is a religion, Liverpool is undoubtedly one of the Holy Lands.
For Cast frontman John Power, the Merseyside seeped into his songwriting subconsciously. “Being in Liverpool had a huge effect on the music that I listened to and the music that I performed.
“But not in a way that I could express it to you; it was home and it felt very natural to me. You were aware of The Beatles and you were aware of the traditional music scene in your blood and in your bones, you know what I mean?
“When I was growing up, you asked your dad 'who was the greatest band and who was the greatest footballer?' and it all seemed like it was on my doorstep. I went to the same school as John Lennon, I grew up around Penny Lane, so these things didn’t seem farfetched to me; they felt very real.”
John is one of those rare musicians such as Dave Grohl and Jack White; he has topped the charts as an integral member of multiple bands: The La’s and Cast as well as a solo artist. John can reflect positively on experiences in both bands. “The thing with The La’s and Cast is that after years on this journey I can look back now and fondly talk about both experiences because I’m very happy now about being in both those bands.
“The Cast thing is where I’m at the moment. We did split up for eight years, or maybe more, and I didn’t play any of the Cast songs at that time. I just sort of fell out of love with it all, you know?
“Last year was our 20th anniversary of ‘All Change’ being released and we thought we’d make a concerted effort to celebrate that. So we were in the studio, we did a lot of gigs, we played with the Royal Liverpool Orchestra to two sell-out shows and we’ve done a great new album called ‘Kicking Up The Dust’.”
Cast are famed for their live performances, being compared to The Who and lauded by Oasis’ Noel Gallagher as being akin to “a religious experience”. John thinks they have only gotten better with age. “The weird thing is after all these years, we’re a better band than we ever were. And that’s kinda something that we’re celebrating on stage, you know?
“You learn to take the foot off the gas and the intensity it builds; the freewheeling of it. It’s not practise makes perfect, it’s more like a feeling that you recognise and become aware of and you can express it more freely without trying so hard. It just seems more natural now.
“When you catch us live, it’s not a prissy, little-beat combo. The drummer’s smashing his kit, [Liam 'Skin' Tyson] is a great guitarist who plays with Robert Plant. There’s a Who side to the band, if you know what I mean?”
Cast Tour Dates
Sat 14 May - The Gov (Adelaide)Sun 15 May - Capitol (Perth)
Thu 19 May - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Fri 20 May - The Corner (Melbourne)
Sat 21 May - The Factory (Sydney)
